From Kristine B.:
Friedan and Faludi both described feminism in two different time periods that resulted in two different outcomes for women and their fight for equality. However, internalized oppression has played its role in both periods. The dominate and control group (men) have decided what women should be credited and when enough was enough. Both women have concluded that regardless women still have a long way to go before reaching a point of equality. Friedan more informative about the aspects on middle class white women as housewives and Faludi has a broader perspective reflecting politics, statistics and personal opinion. As time progresses from Friedan's 1960's perspective and Faludi's 1990's perspective, it is still a struggle for women and equality still is unreached. In personal experience men staying home, folding laundry and being completely happy as Betty Crocker is an unlikely alternative to the image of a housewife in a skirt and heels, driving a mini-van. It brings a good point to mind, if working in science, politics and other male dominate positions is non-feminine then why are pants acceptable for women to wear? Pants are connected to masculinity but women wear them everywhere just as men do. Pants are fashionable and desired by many women even those who are afraid of being marked a feminist. Feminism will always be an issue just as race will always be.
6 comments:
Feminism is not an issue it is the problem that had no name. Freidan and Faludia gave women the opportunities to approach the past dilemmas that lead to feminism. If it had not been for that we would still not be able to wear pants, have careers or even attend school with males. My great grandmother was 95 yrs old when she died and I never known her to complain about wearing a skirt. Even when it was below 20 degrees outside she wouldn't put on pants it was like the norm for her. The generations today and our culture women are able to wear pants and it’s not look down upon but there are many cultures, religions and other generations in other countries where women aren't allowed to wear pants. I don't think wearing pants brings me any masculinity it is just the norm for me in America.
Freidan and Faludia, both in their times played a very very important role, as they were the one who recognised it and put it out in the nation. Many women may have recognized this major issue of oppression but did not have the courage as neither time nor fate was in their side. But looking at women like Friedan and Faludia, most importantly Friedan I would really appreciate her courage to get this inequality outside.Considering the fact about women wearing pants is masculinity,I think immaterial of the clothes, women have always been subjected to dominance. Even though there have been lot of changes since the old times,there are lots of parts in the world where women going out is also a sin! And it is very easy for anyone to comment on a female if she is being independent or acting superior or bossy than a male.This may be due to the fact that somewhere or the other, society has fixed the gender roles and a slight variation in those can make it a big issue especially for women.Changing the mindset of people is really difficult when talking about women's rights as people anytime consider women who are soft spoken as 'feminine' than women who are little tomboyish or rather bossy. Society may never admit it, but it definitely encourages it which again questions the issue of 'feminism',as fixing women to be the secondary group is not open minded at all.
Commenting on the last sentence, I agree that feminism will always be an issue. Just as war, racism, and every other issue that is opposite of peace and equality will always be present. However, I do not think that just because it will continue to cause problem that we should ignore it. War and racism are virtually impossible to overcome completely. We have been fighting and discriminating since the beginning of time. That being said, we should still continue to fight for what is right. We can still make things better. Peace, love, and equality should always be a goal.
I feel like women wear pants these days because it is the norm. But it is the norm because of feminists who wanted to prove a point. Now, its just common to see women wearing pants and you don't automatically assume they are feminists or masculine. However, if you were to see a man in a skirt, you would like he was feminine, would you not? For some reason, we allow clothes to define who we are.
Even though we have come a long way, I think that there is still a long ways to go for females until we are equal as males. I also agree that feminism will always be an issue. I don’t believe that we will ever see the day where women and men are completely equal. In reference to women wearing pants, I think that is just a norm that has been accepted. If you think about it, the jobs that females have, where they wear pants to work, are usually the more professional and masculine job. An example is a manager. It is traditionally a masculine job and as a result, I think that females in those positions feel the pressure to be more masculine. I don’t think people worry about it much anymore though. People are just used to seeing women in these pants.
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